Fauna, Friends, Fun and Everything in Between

A week or so ago, I went on a school trip to Pench tiger reserve in Nagpur. These trips are often the most looked forward to in the entire year. Usually, they are filled with drama and this year was to be no different!

In Pench, we had a packed schedule. I participated in multiple activities like jungle safaris, nature trails as well as village visits. The trip was extremely enjoyable, exceptionally exciting and most memorable. This is my account of the events which occurred during the trip.

Day 1 began bright and early after I met up with all my friends at Mumbai airport, bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to begin the trip! After waving goodbye to our parents, a lot of the grade 6 children coming on the trip felt a feeling of sadness because we wouldn't be seeing our parents for another 5 days! However, as we began our journey the feeling was soon forgotten and replaced by an unexplainable excitement. With such a large group it was quite difficult for the teachers coming with us on the trip to keep track of us in the airport, so it was a miracle no one got lost.

After a long wait in what seemed like a never ending queue, we were finally through security. However, a half an hour delay kept us waiting before boarding the plane. Finally, all of the grade 6 students were on board the plane and ready to take off. We were really excited to reach Pench and could hardly wait. After what seemed like absolutely no time at all in the air, we touched down in Nagpur airport. However, our journey was not done just yet, a 2 hour bus ride still stood between us and our final destination. After a tough ride in the bus, we had arrived at our destination. We were all really excited to reach Pench so despite all of us being tired we got out of the bus and ran around to check every nook and cranny of the property. The rest of the day was nice and easy, with no activities, just a briefing of our trip followed by rooming allocations and down time. Suddenly, after dinner flashed by, my eyelids were already beginning to droop.

The room in which we were staying was quite large and was even equipped with a living area which was shared by everybody staying in the same villa as us. Outside there was a lawn where we sometimes played football during downtime. Also, we spent every night in the common area playing UNO.

The second day of our trip began bright and early. We went down to eat a delicious breakfast at the restaurant before preparing ourselves for a long day of activities. All of us were really raring to get started! Immediately after breakfast, we split into 2 groups and began our first activity which turned out to be pugmark casting. We captured the paw prints or pugmarks of the tigers using mud and white cement. The activity took quite a long time and I think that we did it quite well. Our session of pugmark casting was succeeded by camera trapping. Camera trapping helps capture images and footage of the animals using a motion sensor and camera. Following the activity, we had downtime before heading down to the cafeteria for lunch. As most of us were famished, it came as quite a relief. Now, we had possibly the most exciting activity of the day, our first jungle safari. We got into our gypsies and spent 3 hours on a safari in the jungle and saw lots of wildlife like deer, birds and even a leopard! Finally, after the exciting safari we settled down for a debrief session followed by dinner and a well deserved sleep.

The third day of our trip began similarly to the first with another early morning, followed by a small bite to eat in the restaurant before going for a nature trail which was a nice opportunity to be close to nature. All of us were quite tired and there were certainly a few yawns coming from our group. After the trail, our group were ready for a hearty breakfast and had some relaxing downtime until lunch. We visited Khamba village and saw how things worked there. We rode a bullock cart (which was a fun although somewhat uncomfortable experience), and then we saw how crops were grown and how the food was made. I thought that the life of the villagers seemed quite difficult as they were without technology, however, they seemed to be incredibly happy with the simple lives that they lead. It was quite a new experience for all of us as well, as we got a sneak peek as to what living without technology is like. We even tried some delectable food and tea along with some of the freshest lemons I had ever seen! After coming back to the resort we had another long debrief session and then ate dinner. That night I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

The next morning, we ate a tasty breakfast followed by a briefing on our second village visit. This time, Our group was happy to know that Pachdar village was a pottery village in Nagpur. Pottery was something which most of us wanted to try our hand at. We made several pots and talked to the villagers who were extremely nice and welcoming.

We bought some masterfully crafted pots from a store in the village. Furthermore, our group learnt about how our pottery was going to be baked. One thing which I really wanted to know was how the people of the village were so good at their craft. I questioned the people of the village about this and they replied that they were doing pottery like this for an extremely long time.

After coming back from the village we had another debrief followed by lunch. Right after lunch, we were ready for our second safari of the trip! On this safari we saw 2 tigers as well as two leopards who crossed the road in front of us!!! Safe to say we had far more luck than on our first safari.

Later in the evening, we had a party to celebrate our last night at the resort. There was dancing and music as well as performances by some of the grade 6 students. This was followed by a bonfire with lots of singing and the toasting of marshmallows over the fire. The thing I enjoyed most about this trip was probably the time we spent playing UNO in our room or playing football with my roommates because at the end of the day the activities were fun but what I really enjoyed about the trip was having fun with my friends. Finally, after the longest day yet, we turned in for the night.

For the final time on the morning of the fifth day we ate our breakfast together, my favourite meal of the day. Then, we went to the jungle area to do a cooking challenge. We made pasta which was tasted by the teachers and then we were judged. The challenge was a fun way to teach us how to do some basic cooking. Surprisingly, our pasta wasn't half bad. It was actually quite tasty! We then had a debriefing session of the entire trip. We sadly bid goodbye to the property and climbed into the bus for the airport. The bus ride was gruelling yet again, but finally, we made it to Nagpur airport. I was ready to get on the plane back to Mumbai and see my family again. Unfortunately, there was yet another twist in the tale, a 2 hour delay for the flight! After stewing for a couple of hours in the airport, we boarded the plane. By the time we landed in Mumbai airport, most of us were already falling asleep. Finally, after a long trip our grade 6 group met our parents outside Mumbai airport at nearly 2am. Despite being dog-tired I was still absolutely elated to see my family again after 5 whole days!

The trip itself was something I'll always remember, perhaps not just for the activities (which I might forget!) but for the fun we had as a group, the feeling of being far from home, being together and yet being on my own. I think apart from all the wonderful things I learnt about village life, food, sustainability, conservation, artisans and craft - I also learnt - anything done by yourself may be fun. But anything done with friends is "fun-tastic!".